For Whom the Bell Tolls

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Reading Hemingway is almost always an exercise in masochism for the feminist reader, and For Whom the Bell Tolls is no exception, although this effect is somewhat lessened by the appearance of a female guerrilla leader. (Incidentally, I am just now noticing for the first time the guerr- root of guerrilla. Huh.)

Misogynism set aside, I found this an engrossing, but slow, read. I was fascinated with Hemingway's transliteration of Spanish speech patterns: "I obscenity in the milk of thy mother" being a recurrent, memorable example. It gives the book a dreamlike quality which helps reconcile the reader towards the characters' inexorable march towards disaster. At least, it did for me.

The Known World

Author: Edward P. Jones

I decided not to give this book a star rating because I just could not get through it. It follows a bunch of characters who are connected to each other in various ways through the pre-civil war era, with an emphasis on exploring the relationships that arise in the institution of slavery.

It's also narrated in a very nonlinear fashion, with the author throwing random spoilers out there, like, "She would indeed see her sister again, twenty years later, in New York." (Not an actual quote from the book, as I got rid of it.) At first, you think Jones is going to explore these little asides, but he doesn't.

So, I read about a third of it. Nothing really happens, nothing seems to be in the works for happening, and I was just really, really bored.

The Secret Life of Bees

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

First, let me share with you the text from the back cover: "Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black 'stand-in-mother,' Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free from jail. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina -- a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna."

If you think this sounds intriguing, it is; the book starts off strong with an original plot and two likable but believable characters. However, once the main character meets the aforementioned sisters, having run away from her moderately abusive father, the book drifts gradually downhill. The sisters, in contrast to Lily and Rosaleen, are rather flat; the character of August in particular is sweet, smart, knowledgeable, understanding, loving, etc., without a single flaw to balance her out. The book is only 300 pages long, but I was getting rather tired of it by the end.